Well I didn't read the whole letter through but I don't think you have it, anyway you may want to add a place of what other teams have done that have helped them bring in fans. For example, for the playoffs how every playoff game instead of giving out rally towels the flyers gave out orange tee-shirts for everyone to wear. Good luck, I hope this works!!

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I ask Scott Stevens:"What do you think of Shawn Avery?"Scott Stevens answered:"I wish I still played hockey"

Thanks for the address Sammy.Lets hope they do the right thing so that resending becomes a non-issue.

Yah but if they don't it would be bad to re-send...they aren't dummies, they can see the effort you put in it and if they don't think it's worth a response the first time then they won't the second time and will likely be annoyed that you keep sending it.

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This is how big your signature should be. Any larger and you are compensating.

Great job, and for the record, I was the one who requested LESS dancing girls. That kind of thing is bush league and did nothing to inspire the crowd whatsoever. The girls themselves looked incredibly uncomfortable doing it and you could definitely tell that they weren't trained very well. Hockey does not need cheerleaders.

Anyway, I like the ideas presented in it, however I still believe the biggest way to get people in the place is with a large amount of fair ticket prices and I think it should be addressed further in the letter somehow. They have finally done this with the prices of tickets for FULL season ticket holders, but continue to bungle the prices for a single regular season game. The $10 seats are a great start, however, I have read on various message boards that on several nights this past season, people were arriving at the arena only to find out that the only seats available were $100 in the mezzanine and turning right back around and leaving with their kids. Those $100, $95, $75, and $65 tickets are outrageously priced for single games, especially considering just a few feet above them people are paying anywhere from $10-$35 to sit. Guess which sections were sold out for almost every game last year. I seriously believe that this one reason alone prevented us from having at least twice as many sellouts as we did last season. In this awful economy, nobody is going to show up on a Saturday night and spend $400+ just to get into a building with their kids, and those seats will remain unsold yet again.

Those $65 mezzanine seats should be $35 tops. That's how much they ended up going for almost every night with all those discount codes anyway. Lower the prices and ADVERTISE IT. Tell people "you spoke up, and we listened!" Have "Rock the Rock" Saturday nights where if the place sells out, everyone gets some kind of giveaway. Get the old Cap Center decibel meter and if the crowd can get it over 100 a couple times, give something else away, or tie it in to a sponsor and let everyone get a free Quick Check small sandwich or bag of chips or coffee or soda, whatever. Give something away for a sustained "Let's Go Devils" chant. Put a timer up there and if the crowd can sustain a chant for over two minutes we all get a discount somewhere. US LEMMINGS WILL MAKE NOISE FOR FREE STUFF. Embarrassing, but true. That place has the potential to be noisy. It was rarely reached last year (thanks to the team many a night, I know).

Another idea along the lines of that Mr. VBK meeting is to create some type of fan advisory panel where we (or they) can meet with management every few months or even once before or after the season (let's be real here, they are VERY BUSY) and let them know how our experiences are at the arena and what can be done better. Obviously by my writing here and past interaction with management I would love to be a part of that.

I could almost guarantee with about 99.9% certainty that you will get a response from someone in management. I have a feeling it might be Mr. Vanderbeek himself. The issue will be what to do after that initial response though, because it might just be a "thank you" type thing and nothing else.

Edited by skeeter, 24 June 2008 - 11:57 PM.

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Keeper of Mike Miller's cracking voiceKeeper of Claude the trumpet guyKeeper of Slapshot the fondlin' mascot

Great job on the letter and hopefully some of the promotional items will help. But I beleive the biggest issue is ticket prices and I don't think we are going to get much relief there. I had a partial plan last year and almost every game I went to I could have purchased $35 seats if I waited. Unless you have the full season it's better not to but a partial season when they discount so many games during the year. That issue needs to be addressed.

Great job, and for the record, I was the one who requested LESS dancing girls. That kind of thing is bush league and did nothing to inspire the crowd whatsoever. The girls themselves looked incredibly uncomfortable doing it and you could definitely tell that they weren't trained very well. Hockey does not need cheerleaders.

I don't see anything bush league about it and the Devils probably have the least amount of ice girls and likely promote them the least. Hell, the Devils didn't even give them their own section on the website until recently and that was probably forced.

Either way, they are a side show, they don't interfere with the game so why does it bother anyone? You're not forced to look at them unless you liked watching the guys in overalls clean the ice.

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This is how big your signature should be. Any larger and you are compensating.

Great letter, hope they are receptive to the many ideas put forth -- I may be in the minority but to be honest -no amount of promo or giveaways will make me drive up to Newark on a cold winter night and plunk down cash to watch mediocre hockey with heartless players - or is it mediocre players playing heartless hockey ... works either way with the Devs.

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- props to Puddy for Stevens banner above -

"Stevens doesn't check a guy's age, his salary, his scoring record or his Hall of Fame credentials when he lines him up. He just hits him. "

"Elias, is going to chase it down. Right in front to Arnott, HE SCORES!!!!! JASON ARNOTT HAS SCORED AND THE DEVILS HAVE WON THE CUP!!! JASON ARNOTT!!! JASON ARNOTT has score and the Devils win it 2-1!!!!"-Mike Miller

"The Championship to New Jersey. The Devils win the Stanley Cup"! -Mike Emrick- -June 24, 1995

I really liked the letter and I hope upper management or whoever reads this over at the Prudential Center likes it also. I would really emphasize #11 on future promotion ideas 10.) More Marketing utilizing Individual Player personalities to Market the Team (especially Marty) I think that getting to know the players is one of the most enjoyable parts of rooting for a team, it brings you closer to them.

I just briefly went over the letter but if the Ring of Fire isn't on there, where we honor former devils and induct them into our hall of fame, with a section on the concourse with memorabilia of that player, for ex. Brylin than it should be included in that letter.

I just briefly went over the letter but if the Ring of Fire isn't on there, where we honor former devils and induct them into our hall of fame, with a section on the concourse with memorabilia of that player, for ex. Brylin than it should be included in that letter.